Sunday, 6 May 2012

Luton : More Failure for the EDL.

The day started with a big failure for the EDL and just got worse.

The much vaunted public union between Paul Weston's British Freedom Party and Tommy Robinson's English Defence League was to take place on Saturday 5th May. The civil partnership from the inner circle of hell ,was to occur in a blaze of publicity at The Icon Hotel. in Luton .A lavish press conference had been planned to officially announce the previously much trailed announcement that Tommy Robinson was to become British Freedoms Vice Chairman.As British Freedoms Press Release trumpeted:

'Mr Lennon and Mr Carroll will share the role of Party Vice Chairman alongside Party Chairman Paul Weston.
This historic development marks the growing cooperation between
British Freedom and the English Defence League, thus offering a
political voice to the working men and women of this country who have
effectively been betrayed by all the main parties – particularly the
Labour Party.

The move establishes British Freedom as a new force in British
politics – the only party with the strength and determination to call
for Britain’s withdrawal from the unelected and totalitarian European
Union, to confront militant Islam, halt mass immigration and defend
democracy’s most vital ingredient – Free Speech.

British Freedom will also end the deliberately divisive policy of
multiculturalism and reverse decades of destructive Political
Correctness which exists only to promote division and Socialism –
despite the appalling record of Socialist inspired mass murder, war, and
the terrible economic, social and environmental carnage witnessed over
the last century.'

This is part of The EDLs progression from an Islamophobic organisation to an overtly anti leftist and anti-socialist organisation.

However before you could shout"Hold the canapes!" it was over.

The Icon Hotel cancelled the event.Evidently they didn't think the presence of EDL/BF conducive to their corporate image.

The press release was apparently released on Twitter.

It is reported that they rescheduled the event to The Parrot Pub (Tommy Robinsons local),later in the day.I don't know whether Paul Weston attended this as the rather well suited gentleman would have found the pub well outside of his comfort zone.

The EDL march itself was a rather lame affair.

Their numbers have been going into sharp decline since the debacle in Tower Hamlet's .The events of that day have been pored over before.What the EDL cannot avoid is the reality that they did not have the numbers to force their way into Tower Hamlets.

You can lie about how many you have on a demo.However,if you say you are going to march through somewhere in defiance of the Police and you don't ,that is unspinnable.

“We overestimated our strength,” they wrote.
“We underestimated the
strength of our enemies. Now is not the time for recriminations and
infighting, we need to learn lessons and learn them fast.”

After their abject humiliation in Brighton recently, their morale must be very low.

They could only muster between eight hundred to a thousand people for the demo.Even Casuals United,the EDLs swaggerers in chief, were only claiming two thousand.Even if that were true it would mean a sharp decline of a third on last years figures.

The meltdown of their BNP comrades at the elections couldn't fail to have demoralised them. In the end they just ended up throwing bottles and smoke bombs at the police,as it was clear they had insufficient numbers to break through Police lines and go on the rampage as they have done on previous occasions.As The Huffington Post pointed out:
"Many EDL members appeared drunk, leaving a trail of lager cans in
their wake, and with one bemused spectator describing police efforts to
control the group as "herding kittens"."

The We are Luton event attracted around 1500 people ,having the backing of local MPs, Councillors, trade unionists, religious and community groups.

Richard
Howitt, MEP for Bedfordshire,spoke in Wardown Park, where We Are Luton started its demonstration.
He said: "There are those visiting and watching Luton today and who
have seen it portrayed as a town at war. This is a peaceful, friendly,
vibrant town."

There were many speeches from community leaders emphasising the importance of both diversity and unity.UAF had a noisy and peaceful demonstration.

In all probability it was a mistake by the EDL to call the demo for a date so soon after the council elections.It would probably have been more prudent to wait for the dust to settle.
With the cutbacks just coming on stream and rising unemployment the coming months could be a potentially fruitful environment for the Nazis.

We are in a much stronger environment to combat fascism than in some other countries.Due to hard campaigning in the last few years the Nazis have been subjected to severe setbacks.However,this is no time to rest on our laurels.

The situation in France,although not too late, shows that the absence of a militant anti-fascist campaign in these economic circumstances can prove disastrous.In Greece it looks almost certain that the Fascists of Golden Dawn are going to make a breakthrough and win Parliamentary seats in the Election.

It is not inconceivable the Nazis can regroup.
The launch of EDL/BF,is a classic Fascist strategy and is a potentially worrying development ,that could grow into a real force in the coming months.